The invention relates to a vehicle light assembly including several incandescent lamps which are inserted in a common lamp holder by means of a cap, which forms the connection of the incandescent lamp, and which has at least one center contact as a further connection. The assembly features metal conductors insulated from one another and consisting of sheet metal, which metal conductors are secured on the lamp holder and of which at least one rests against the center contact of this incandescent lamp, and comprising at least one separate, additional spring which presses the end portion against the center contact.
Currently it is usual to accomodate the incandescent lamps necessary for the different signalling functions as tail light, brake light, turn-signal light and back-up light, in a multi-purpose light assembly which is divided into several chambers. The connection of the light assembly is effected via a single multiple plug. Therefore within the light assembly conductive connections have to be provided between the incandescent lamps and the various connection points in the multiple plug. Generally metal conductors from sheet metal are being used for this purpose. These metal conductors are conducted from the multiple plug to the incandescent lamps.
A multiple-purpose light assembly as outlined above is, for example, known from the German specification OS No. 2,441,330. One metal conductor of this light assembly, which metal conductor forms the common earth connection for all incandescent lamps, is bent into the lamp holders like a lug and rests against the cap of the incandescent lamp there. The center contacts of the incandescent lamps are connected to the assigned metal conductors via separately produced contact springs. Thereby the end of the metal conductors neighbouring the respective incandescent lamp forms an angle and is pushed to fit on the end of a fork-shaped, slotted contact spring, whose other end rests resiliently against the center contact of the incandescent lamp. When the current is supplied in this way an electric contact resistance appears between the metal conductor and the one end of the contact spring and between the other end of the contact spring and the center contact of an incandescent lamp. In order to diminish the contact resistances according to the German specification OS No. 2,945,733 one has abstained from using the contact spring and elongated the metal conductors as far as directly to the center contacts of the incandescent lamps. The necessary contact pressure between a metal conductor and the center contact of an incandescent lamp is produced by an additional contact spring which is supported on the lamp holder and on the metal conductor and presses the latter against the center contact. In an example of the German specification OS No. 2,945,733 the additional spring is a plastics lug formed on the lamp holder. Such a version can be produced extremely economical, but after a longer service life could perhaps involve malfunctions, because the plastics lug loses part of its spring tension under the influence of the warmth of the incandescent lamps. In a second embodiment therefore a separate helical compression spring is provided which is positioned below the cap of the incandenscent lamp in a lamp holder being part of the lamp supporting member.
Starting from the prior art described the present invention is based on the problem of developing a vehicle light assembly including the features of the invention in such a way that it can be mounted in a simple way and substantially without faults and that at the same time a reliable contactmaking is ensured together with a contact pressure as constant as possible over the entire service life of a motor vehicle.